Container dumper



Aug". 19, 1969 y w. A. ALLEN 3,462,030

I CONTAINER BUMPER Filed sept. 1'. 1967 2 sheets-sheet 11 WML/"AM A.,ALL EN Bfm Aug. 19, 1969 w. A; ALLENY CONTAINER DUMPER Filed sept. 1, v1967 2 Sheets-Sheet '2 mvEN'roR M A. ALLEN United States Patent3,462,030 CONTAINER DUMPER William A. Allen, San Bernardino, Calif.,assignor to Jarke Corporation, Niles, Ill., a corporation of IllinoisFiled Sept. 1, 1967, Ser. No. 665,699 Int. Cl. B65b 69/00 U.S. Cl.214-317 5 Claims ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLOSURE Mechanism for attachment toa forklift for upending a container to dump the contents thereof, andcomprising means to effect a hooking engagement between lift forks thatare pivotally connected to the lift carriage of the lift fork and thecontainer to retain the latter against forward displacement when beingupended as said forks are moved about said pivotal connection, thelatter movement being effected by hooking a frame comprised of a pair ofarms and a connecting tube to hook means provided at an elevatedposition on the mast of the forklift, and lowering the carriage to causethe mentioned pivotal movement of the forks and upending of thecontainer.

Cross reference to related application Ser. No. 555,611, filed June 6,1966, by William A. Allen, now U.S. Patent 3,360,143, for ForkliftDumping Means which discloses hook means affording a retractible fulcrumat an elevated position on the mast of a forklift and which is employedin the present container dumper as means to cause dumping or upendingmovement of the container as the vertically traveling lift carlriageofthe forklift is lowered.

Background of the invention An object of the invention is to providesimple and improved means for moving heavily-laden containers, as boxesfilled with a harvest of fruit, by use of a forklift provided with meansto not only raise such heavy containers, but also to retain them inproper operative engagement with said means dumping of the contentsk ofthe vcontainers in transportation trucks, into hoppers, and otherreceptacles for receiving such contents.

This invention also has for its objects to provide such means that arepositive in operation, convenient in use, easily installed in a workingposition and easily disconnected therefrom, economical of manufacture,relatively simple, and of general superiority and serviceability.

The invention also comprises novel details of construction and novelcombinations and arrangements of parts, which will more fully appear inthe course of the following description and which is based on theaccompanying drawings. However, said drawings merely show, and thefollowing description merely describes, preferred embodiments of thepesent invention, Which are given by Way of illustration or exampleonly.

Summary of the invention The present improvements have 'basis on agenerally conventional forklift 10 which in the drawings is representedby a mast 11, a lift carriage 12 that is vertically v I'Ce lowered afterframe 17 is hooked to the hook means, to pivotally move said carriagearound a pivot 18 on the end of the support frame 13. A stop 19 limitsthe initial untilted position of the cradle, and a stop 20 limits theraised tilted position of said cradle. In the latter position, the box15 lhas been rotated at least 90 and preferably somewhat more, as shown,to insure discharge of the contents C of the box.

Brief description of the drawings In the drawings, like referencecharacters designate similar parts in the several views.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of preferred form of container dumper according tothe present invention, and shows a normal container supportingcondition.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view as taken on the line 2--2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3, to an enlarged scale, is a side elevational view showing thedumper in container upended and dumping position.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary front view of a corner of an alternate form ofcontainer and modified means for supporting the same.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view as taken on the line 5--5 of FIG. 4.

Description of the preferred embodiments The hook means 16 comprises twosimilar but oppositely arranged units, one mounted on each side of themast 11. One such unit is 4shown in FIG. 3. Without invention, as shownin U.S. Patent 3,358,862, to William A. Allen, said means may be mountedon a vertically extensible portion of the upper end of the mast so thepresent dumping means may operate at a desired level above the level onwhich the forklift 10 moves.

Said hook means 16, on each side comprises mounting plate 21, and an arm22 on a pivot 23 swingablein a vertical plane, said arm having anoperating end 24 that is connected by a link 25 to an operating lever26. Said arm, when actuated in one direction, Swings said arm 22 in adirection to project a hook 22a outwardly beyond the forward edge of themounting plate 21. A spring or by moving said lever 26. in the oppositedirection causes retraction of said hook 22a inward as limited by a stoppin 27.

The support frame 13 is shown as comprising a pair of back, verticalposts 28 that are separably connected by an upper hook 29 on each postto one cross bar 30 affixed to the carriage 12, and by a lower lock bar31 on each post toa second cross bar 32 affixed to said carriage.Release of the two lock bars 31 4from engagement with the cross bar 32enables the frame 13 to be lifted and separated from the carriage 12.Each post 28 is provided adjacent its upper end with a catch 33, thesame having transversely aligned seats 34. A cross bar 35 connects theposts 28 combining with said posts to form a rear frame part. A pair ofsupport arms 36 are affixed to the opposite ends of said frame part andextend forwardly. The forward ends 37 of said arms are -angularlyupwardly directed and terminate in aligned pivot ends. The mentionedstop 20 is provided on each forward end 37.

The cradle 14 is shown as comprising a rearwardly disposed verticalframe-38, a pair of parallel, forwardly directed forks 39 aflixed to thelower edge of said frame 38, -a box encompassingl saddle 40 affixed tosaid frame 38 and formedwith parallel sides 41 that are spaced to re- Iceive a box 15 between them with suitable clearance.

At transversely spaced points of the frame 38 are provided stop members42 spaced above the forks 39 to be clear of the upper edge of a boxsupported on said forks. The forks are provided with ends 43 in the formof hooks that are forwardly spaced from the frame 38 to accommodate thelength of a box 15 on said forks, said ends 43, thereby normallyextending forwardly from the forward face of such box.

The mentioned pivot 18 is formed by bolts 44 or the like extendingthrough the arm ends 37.

The dump frame 17 is shown as comprising a pair of arms 45 that,adjacent to one end thereof, are connected by pivots 46 to the saddlesides 41 in forwardly and downwardly spaced relation to the pivot 18,and a cross rod or tube 47 connecting the opposite end of said arms 45to form the U-shaped dump frame 17.

The box 15 that is shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 has a bottom 48, front and rearwals 49, and side walls 50. The box shown is square but not necessarilyso. A pair of cleats 51 are provided at the bottom to space the latterabove a support surface, said cleats being preferably spaced fartherapart than the transverse spacing of the forks 39. Said cleats, as canbe seen in FIG. 2, have a height which is greater than the thickness ofthe forks 39 taken together with the hooks 43 on the ends of said forks.

The box 15 is shown as made of wood. When the box or container 15a ismade of metal, as in FIGS. 4 and 5, the cleats 51a may be formed astubes through the hollows of which the forks 39 may be extended, asshown. By providing a lip 52 at the front of the box, the hooks 43 ofthe forks may be engaged therewith, thereby obviating the need for thestop members 42. The forks, being retained by the tubular cleats and bythe lips 52, limit the forward tilt of the box during upending thereof.

In operation, the forklift is moved into position with the forks 39between the cleats 51, as in FIG. 2, or in register Iwith the tubularcleats 51a, as in FIG. 4. The forklift is then moved forwardly until theends 43 of the forks extend beyond the loaded box. Assurance that thisis the case is had when the cradle frame 38 encounters the rear of thebox. Now, the carriage is moved up until the forks encounter the bottom48 of the box, bring the fork hooks 43 into position to either impingeon the front of the box, as in FIG. 2, or to engage the lips 52, as inFIG. 5. Now, the carriage 12 is raised, certain being made that thehooks 22a are retracted so the tube 47 of the support frame 13 may moveupwardly beyond said retracted hooks.

The arms 22 are then moved to project the hooks 22a forwardly, aslimited by the stops 27. Now, the carriage 12 is lowered. When the tube47 encounters the hooks 22a, the dumping frame 17 will start to tiltaround said tube as a fulcrum, thereby arresting the downward progressof the pivots between said frame 17 and the cradle 14. As the carriage12 continues its downward movement, the support frame causes the cradleto turn from the position of FIG. 2 to the tilted position of FIG. 3.The box 15, being caught, at the front by the fork hooks 43, cannotslide forwardly but, when an overtilted position, as in FIG. 3 isreached, either the stop 42 in the first form, or the fork-cleatengagement of the second fork, will act to retain the same in positionin the cradle Iwhile the contents C of the box are dumped into thereceiving receptacle 53. The stop 20 limits the dumping angle, the samebeing provided on the support arms 36 and are engaged by the dump arms45.

The dumper is returned to its initial position, as in FIG. 2, by movingthe carriage 12 upwardly until the catches pick up the tube 47 andupwardly disengage it from the hooks 22a. When the stops 19 on the sides41 of the saddle 40 encounter the dump arms 45, the mentioned initialposition is reached. Now, the books 22a are retracted so the carriage 12may be lowered and the forklift disengaged from the empty box and movedto engage a loaded box so the dumping operation may be repeated.

Having thus described this invention, what is claimed and desired to besecured by Letters Patent is:

1. A container dumper comprising in combination with .a fork lift havinga mast and a carriage movable vertically along said mast of:

(a) a support frame alixed to said carriage and having forwardlyydirected transversely spaced arms,

(b) a cradle provided with forwardly directed forks terminating in endhooks and adapted to support a container, said cradle including a saddlehaving sides between which a box supported on the forks loosely ts, saidsaddle being connected on aligned pivots to the forward ends of the armsof the support frame,

(c) a dump frame provided with arms connected to said saddle on alignedpivots offset below the lirstfy mentioned aligned pivots, and with atransverse member connecting the rearward ends of the latter arms, v

(d) catch means on the support frame to engage the mentioned transversemember,

(e) stop means interfengaging said dump frame arms and the cradle tosupport the latter and the container supported thereon in non-dumpingposition,

(f) hook means on an elevated portion of the forklift mast to engage thetransverse member of the dump frame during -downward movement of thelcarriage and the means carried thereby from a position above said hookmeans to thereby arrest the downward movement of said transverse member,

(g) said dump frame upon continued movement of the carriage rotationallymoving the cradle and the boX supported thereby around thefirst-mentioned aligned pivots to dumping position of the contents ofthe box, and

(h) stop means inter-engaging the arms of the support frame and the armsof the dump frame to limit such rotational movement of the cradle andbox.

2. A container dumper according to claim 1 in which the support framecomprises:

(a) rear vertically arranged members to which the forwardly directedarms are rigidly affixed, and

(b) means to separably engage said members and the carriage of theforklift.

3. A container dumper according to claim 2 provided with stop means onthe cradle cooperating 'with the hooks on the forward ends of the forksto retain the box from displacement from the cradle in the dumpingposition of said cradle.

4. A container dumper according to claim 3 in which said stop meanscomprises members on the rear frame of the cradle in overstandingengagement with the upper rear edge of the box.

5. A container dumper according to claim 2 further including stop meanscomprising tubular members on the container through which the forks onsaid cradle extend, the engagement between said tubular members and theforks restraining the container to a limited relative movement in thedumping position thereof.

` References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,768,149 6/1930 Remde 214-317X 3,358,862 12/1967 Allen 214-317 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,038,481 9/ 1958Germany.

HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner

